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Published Jul 1, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT
The internet's most burning Minion mysteries, answered
Photo: Universal
Minions & Monsters is out now, and the newest movie in the Despicable Me and Minions franchise redefines what can be done with the yellow, overall-wearing, gibberish-speaking troublemakers. Early in the movie, it's made clear that, in addition to the single group of Minions we’ve been watching for the six other films, there are actually many different tribes of Minions, expanding the possibilities for the future of the franchise. Also, it had previously been established that the destiny of all Minions is to follow the biggest, baddest leader they can find, yet Minions & Monsters stars James, an artistic Minion with no interest in villainy who eventually decides he just wants to make movies. Then he, along with the fellow Minions in his tribe, become stars of Hollywood’s silent era of filmmaking.
Despite the expanded definition of Minions established in the new movie, there are still some big questions that remain about the Minions, many of which have been speculated upon in the franchise’s online fanbase for more than a decade. So, when Polygon got a chance to talk to director Pierre Coffin — who also directed four previous movies in the franchise and voices all the Minions — we had to hit him with the three most burning questions the internet has about the Minions.
1 How do Minions reproduce? A deleted scene revealed...
The 2015 prequel Minions opens with a sequence showing three Minions evolving from single-celled organisms to beings with flippers and eyes (or in Stuart’s case, just one eye). From there, emerging from offscreen, we see hundreds of Minions join the other three.
“That’s a question we've all asked ourselves at a highly creative level,” Coffin tells Polygon. “It went really high up and then, ultimately, we thought that we would never answer that question. But we sort of hinted at it when we did the first Minion movie. In the opening credits, they start off as little yellow cells.”
Then Coffin reveals a scrapped concept from Minions & Monsters, one that might still make it into a future installment:
2 Can a Minion die? Finally a definitive answer
Image: Universal
Throughout the Minions and Despicable Me movies, we’ve seen Minions blown up, run over, hanged, and launched into space with a ship or a spacesuit, yet they never seem to actually perish from the physical violence that befalls them. They also seem to be completely ageless, which is why “Can Minions die?” is a popular online query.
“No,” says Coffin definitively. “We tried multiple times, but they seem to come back alive every time for some reason. So I'm guessing they can't die.”
3 What were the Minions doing from 1939 until 1945? You know where this is going...
Image: Universal
The Minions movie deliberately sidesteps the issue by revealing that the Minions conveniently hid out in a cave from 1812 until 1968. However, Minions & Monsters establishes that there are multiple tribes of Minions, and, aside from James, they still seek out the most evil boss they can. This means the question “Did any Minions work for Hitler?” is back in play, which is why we put it to Coffin.
“I knew you were going to ask me that question. Shame on you,” Coffin laughs. Then he goes on to say, “I think they were in that cave.”
“But this movie establishes that there are multiple tribes of Minions,” I counter.
“So the Minions that we know from Minions 1 were stuck in the cave. These ones, I don't know where they were, but they were not part of the Big History,” says Coffin, putting the matter to rest until the next Minions movie.
Minions & Monsters is in theaters now.